“It takes two things to knock down a tree: a strong wind and a rotten trunk.” So began my presentation to a group of recovering drug addicts. I turned and pointed to a slide on the screen behind me: A STRONG TRUNK = STRONG CHARACTER.  “What builds strong character? Virtue! The practice of virtue.” I was fired up. I could hear convic...

It’s true, converting to Catholicism from Protestantism can comes with its share of culture shock. I know there are some that have a hard time with newly assented-to doctrines, like all that Mary stuff. But not me. Mary became a loving mother to me rather quickly. But going into Catholic bookstores? – now that was shock. I was going from a c...

Do you want to be a saint? Is it arrogant or presumptuous to believe one can become a saint? St Thérèse of Lisieux recognized that the greatness of God’s saints vary depending on their love for Him: “I saw that one could be a Saint in varying degrees, for we are free to respond to Our Lord’s invitation by doing much or little in our love f...

As I was praying about my patron saints recently, the following image came to my mind, about the order of our prayer and the help that God has given us to reach Him: all the saints are centered on God and they seek to pull us into that center through their prayers and support. The heart of our prayer centers on God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. T...

Have you ever thought of the Saints as impartially blessed or favored by God, as virtually super-human, and basically incapable of sin? Have you ever felt that their claims of being vulnerable to even the most serious temptations were at least excessive, if not disingenuous? Do you hold, or have you held the view, that someone so immensely blessed ...

As a Benedictine oblate, people ask me regularly: what does it mean to be an oblate? Most importantly, it entails taking the Rule of St. Benedict as a spiritual charter for how we live the Gospel. St. Benedict is clear at the opening of the Rule: incline your ear to the words of the Master and run to meet Him. The Master is Christ and the Rule help...

This October I’m leading my first pilgrimage. It will coincide with a book I have coming out, The Beer Option: A Catholic Guide to Beer and Culture, which will be published by Angelico. The pilgrimage aims at exploring Catholic culture in its fullness: great art and architecture, food and drink, religious life, and the saints. My wife, Anne, and ...

Bishop Robert Barron and non-Catholic apologist William Lane Craig recently sat down with an audience to talk about apologetics, evangelization and the secular culture’s latest effort to eliminate faith from the culture. The event was recorded and provides an extremely valuable opportunity to hear the thoughts and advice of two of the most gifted...

Note on the Author: Jonathan Conrad is commonly known as The Catholic Woodworker.  He is a husband and father whose driving passion is to cultivate greater Marian devotion among Catholic men.  I have 1 question for you who have completed your 90 day Exodus journey: does it feel like you’ve reached the Promised Land?  Meaning, have you ...

If you have spent any significant amount of time among serious Christians, then you know that the word “legalism” is often regarded as a very dirty word in their vocabulary.  Provided we understand the word properly, I am perfectly happy with this being the case.  My fear, however, is that we do not understand it properly. Legalism, as I see ...